Aftermath of a 2-1 victory: On avoiding the Red Wings, what Demers was doing at forward and more

CALGARY — The Sharks headed home immediately after that 2-1 victory and have today off. Me? I decided I could end the final trip of the regular season without some ridiculously early wake-up call and scheduled myself on an evening flight.

Lots to kick around now that the playoff picture has become a little more simplified.

The Sharks will say they don’t care which team they face in the opening round of the playoffs and that’s fine. They have to say that. They probably even have to think that. The rest of us, though, can try to be a little more analytical.

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Right now, it has to be ABD — Anybody But Detroit.

Even without the history between the teams or the Sharks’ recent record of playoff wipeouts, nobody wants to face the hottest team in the NHL as the season ends and that happens to be the Red Wings.

Factor in everything else — the Sharks are a team that has to go to re-education camp to learn how to feel confident in the post-season — and that standard line about beating the best to be the best just doesn’t seem to apply. Beat anybody now. Beat the best later. Heck, let someone else beat the best.

There are still too many variables to say that a Sharks-Red Wings matchup is likely, but it’s much more than a remote possibility. And ultimately, it could all come down to the final Sunday of the regular season when Detroit visits Chicago and Colorado hosts Los Angeles — while the Sharks, their season over, can do nothing but watch and wait.

Not saying the Sharks would have no chance against the Red Wings or have an easy time with Los Angeles or Nashville or Colorado. Just saying there are paths of less resistance to the Stanley Cup finals.

And gaining confidence from a first-round victory can only make the team stronger going forward.

***Speaking of Detroit, a quick update on that item Tuesday about Mark Howe, the Red Wings director of pro scouting, following the Sharks from Denver to Calgary.

He won’t be in San Jose for Thursday’s game against Vancouver, but he will be at HP Pavilion on Saturday for the finale against Phoenix (another possible Detroit opponent).

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***Sure, it was the 80th game of the season, but Todd McLellan was still trying to figure out a way to maximize the upside and minimize the downside when it comes to defenseman Jason Demers.

Against Calgary, McLellan used the offensive-minded Demers as a forward on a few shifts — a hybrid of sorts that could prove interesting if it continues into the post-season.

“He got a few shifts up front and then finished the night on the back end,” McLellan said. “It’s still an experiment we want to play with as we move forward. And play with is not a good choice of words on my part because it’s serious. But we need him to be able to do that for four or five minutes a night and then go back on the point during the power play.”

Demers said that was the first time he had played forward since he was about 11 or so. And he only learned of McLellan’s plan this week.

“It’s just been the last few days,” Demers, 21, said. “He just wanted to keep me fresh for when the power play came or if I had to go on penalty kills to keep my legs under me. So I just went through the basics of it before the game and it worked out pretty well. It was kind of fun.”

***I did talk with McLellan about the hockey-related story that was dominating the Canadian media even more than the playoff races, the disclosure that Graham James, the junior hockey coach who sexually abused young players, recevied a pardon in 2007.

McLellan succeeded James as coach of the Swift Current Broncos, and when the charges were filed against James a few years later, McLellan had a first-hand look at the impact that had on the Saskatchewan town.

“When it all broke, it was a real tough time for us in Swift Current. The community was extremely upset and there was a lot of counseling going on,” McLellan said. “For it to come up again and for the pardon to be granted, I’m sure that community will feel some pain again.

“I’m with everybody else. I certainly disagree with the pardon,” the coach added. “It’s a real unfortunate thing.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

“Nashville is the team that everyone should be scared of, I’m telling you. That defence, and I’m a real defence guy now, with [Shea] Weber, [Ryan] Suter and [Dan] Hamhuis is really good. I mean, look at the way they’ve been winning and they haven’t had [Jason] Arnott all that time and [goalie Pekka] Rinne is really playing well, really on top of his game. He [Predators coach Barry Trotz] has done a great job there again. They’re in every game they play, and Weber with that shot — you’ve got to take it away.”

The playoffs are a grind and thats one thing this team does well is grind out wins. Break up the big 3 and hammer the canucks tonight, whose defense is gonna be in trouble with no ehrhoff.

ChiTownBullet

The Sharks & Hawks were both in a funk after the Olympics now they’re both hitting their stride. These playofffs are going to be tough for every single team good enough to make it. Get your booze call your buds aquire some tickets or what ever trips your trigger, root for the home boys and enjoy the game and if your or my guys loose I’ll not stop waching for the love of the game.

RICK

Nick, yeah I guess it’s bright,stamkos is a stud and you’re right carle,yet another fiasco from former lightning owners with former being the KEY word ! lol

Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out